I think even among ML’s there are better candidates for all that. Castro’s entire set, for one.
I think he absolutely meant it and was a gifted administrator(putting aside killing all the other communists for a moment), but he made the same mistake all the French revolutionaries made–centralized power too much taking it from the soviets, so it fell apart when anyone less capable of filling those extremely large shoes stepped in.
He made the classic ‘great man’ mistake, and didn’t trust the people he meant to save, so his success began to die the moment he did. It’s hard to blame him personally, but god dammit he could have done so much better with a little sacrifice in initial efficiency to help the people be a bigger part of the revolution.
Lenin was one of the earliest theorists, organizers, and eventually the leader of the first explicitly Marxist revolution in world history. Any one of these accomplishments would make him one of the most important and admirable Marxists ever, but all three?
Lenin’s worst mistake was giving too much of his health to his nation. Sorry, but your reading is not supported by the historical data, even though it is so often repeated by the western left.
I think even among ML’s there are better candidates for all that. Castro’s entire set, for one.
I think he absolutely meant it and was a gifted administrator(putting aside killing all the other communists for a moment), but he made the same mistake all the French revolutionaries made–centralized power too much taking it from the soviets, so it fell apart when anyone less capable of filling those extremely large shoes stepped in.
He made the classic ‘great man’ mistake, and didn’t trust the people he meant to save, so his success began to die the moment he did. It’s hard to blame him personally, but god dammit he could have done so much better with a little sacrifice in initial efficiency to help the people be a bigger part of the revolution.
Lenin was one of the earliest theorists, organizers, and eventually the leader of the first explicitly Marxist revolution in world history. Any one of these accomplishments would make him one of the most important and admirable Marxists ever, but all three?
Lenin’s worst mistake was giving too much of his health to his nation. Sorry, but your reading is not supported by the historical data, even though it is so often repeated by the western left.